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William III (Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk, anglicised: William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 1890. He was also the Duke of Limburg from 1849 until the abolition of the duchy in 1866. William was the son of King William II and Anna Pavlovna of Russia. On the abdication of his grandfather William I in 1840, he became the Prince of Orange. On the death of his father in 1849, he succeeded as King of the Netherlands. William married his cousin Sophie of Württemberg in 1839 and they had three sons, William, Maurice, and Alexander, all of whom predeceased him. After Sophie's death in 1877 he married Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1879 and they had one daughter Wilhelmina, who succeeded William to the Dutch throne. ==Early life== Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk (anglicised: William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis) was born on 19 February 1817 in the Palace of the Nation in Brussels,〔 (Z.M. (koning Willem III) Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk, koning der Nederlanden, groothertog van Luxemburg, prins van Oranje-Nassau ), ''Parlement & Politiek''. Retrieved on 21 February 2015.〕 which was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. He was the eldest son of the future king William II of the Netherlands and Anna Pavlovna of Russia. He had three brothers, one of whom died in infancy, and one sister.〔 (Z.M. (koning Willem II) koning Willem Frederik George Lodewijk , koning der Nederlanden, groothertog van Luxemburg, hertog van Limburg, prins van Oranje-Nassau ), ''Parlement & Politiek''. Retrieved on 21 February 2015.〕 In 1827, at the age of ten, he was made an honorary colonel in the Royal Netherlands Army. In the 1830s, he served as lieutenant in the Grenadiers Regiment. In 1834, he was made honorary commander of the Grenadiers Regiment of Kiev nr. 5 in the Imperial Russian Army.〔 (Koninklijke ere-commando's en militaire erefuncties ), Nationaal Militair Museum. Retrieved on 21 february 2015.〕 He married his first cousin, Sophie, daughter of King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, in Stuttgart on 18 June 1839. This marriage was unhappy and was characterized by struggles about their children. Sophie was a liberal intellectual, hating everything leaning toward dictatorship, such as the army. William was simpler, more conservative, and loved the military. He prohibited intellectual exercise at home, for which action Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who corresponded with Princess Sophie, called him an uneducated farmer. (His extramarital enthusiasms, however, led the New York Times to call him "the greatest debauchee of the age".〔("Holland's Queen" ) - ''New York Times'' September 26, 1897〕) Another cause of marital tension (and later political tension) was his capriciousness; he could rage against someone one day, and be extremely polite the next. William loathed the 1848 constitutional changes initiated by his father (William II) and Johan Rudolf Thorbecke. His father saw them as key to the monarchy's survival in changing times. Sophie, who was a liberal, also shared this view. William himself saw them as useless limitations of royal power, and would have preferred to govern as an enlightened despot in the mold of his grandfather, William I. He considered relinquishing his right to the throne to his younger brother Henry and later to his older son. His mother convinced him to cancel this action. The Dutch constitution provided no way to relinquish one's claim to the throne. On 17 March 1849 his father died and William succeeded to the throne of the Netherlands. He was at that moment a guest of the Duchess of Cleveland in Raby Castle. Representatives of the Dutch government traveled to London to meet their new king in London. William was reluctant to return, but he was convinced to do so. Upon arrival the new Queen welcomed her spouse with the question "did you accept?". The new king nodded, but he remained uncertain about the matter for some time.〔Dik van der Meulen, William III Biography 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William III of the Netherlands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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